Mirror's Edge: The Beginning
by InTheNightlight
Summary: We all know that Faith is a runner, one of the most successful. But how did she become a runner? This story explains it.


Mirror's Edge is © to DICE.

The November Riots. How could anyone forget them? The SWAT team, pushing the citizens back, reassuring the screaming, shouting people. That's when the first shot was fired.

A man had shot a cop, and in retaliation, the Blues fired back, not just at the man, but the whole crowd. Many were injured, a select few killed, and at the end, only a couple hundred out of what was 1000 were left standing.

The subject of our story, Faith Connors, was one of the injured. Her sister, Kate helped her to her feet. Their father was standing, looking for his wife. Faith noticed a hand sticking out of some rubble. It was her mother.

* * *

After the riots, the three fell apart, rarely doing much together. Faith's father became a drunk and began blaming himself for what happened and Kate had given up all hope. Faith wasn't going to give in. She ran away just two weeks later.

* * *

Faith sat back in the small cardboard house she had set up in an alleyway. She took out a slice of pizza from a box and munched down on it. She frowned and said, sarcastically, "This is the life. No one to look after me, to talk to, to play with. This sucks."

She got out of the hut and went for a jog around the city. You see, Faith wasn't like most 16 year old girls. She could run abnormally fast, jump and leap higher and farther than anyone, and perform acrobatics, such as wall-running, speed vaulting, and so on. She also had a knack for finding her way out of situations. She managed to find the roof of one of her 'secret' buildings. She and her friends would sit here for hours, chatting, or she would come up here to be alone.

She sat for what seemed like hours. She finally got up around nighttime and walked around on the rooftop. She sighed and looked over the edge. There was nothing she alone could do. The changes came too quickly, and the riots started. She couldn't make a difference. The city might have been dangerous and filth-ridden before, but it was alive and pulsating with energy. Now, the city was slightly less dangerous and considerably cleaner, but it was less lively, duller. The city once had a population of over 1000, but after the riots, the population dropped down to (roughly) 285.

Faith was about to climb down, when she noticed a light coming from a large pod-shaped radiator. She noticed that behind the slots where the air was supposed to escape, there was glass. She picked up a nearby brick and smashed the boards covering the top. She dropped in. It looked like a computer-type house. There was pizza, high-tech stuff, trackers, all sorts of stuff. Faith picked up a license that showed a man with a short hair-cut and a white jacket over a red shirt. The license said that the man's name was Mercury Grahw*. She thought she had seen the man before but…

"HEY!" She heard a voice behind her. She turned to face a gun barrel in her face. The gun was held by this man, Mercury. Suddenly, she remembered. This was the man who shot the first gun at the November Riots. Faith couldn't help but scream and kick him below the belt. She jumped out the top and ran. She ran as fast as she could. Then, she saw the edge. She skidded to a stop and looked back. Mercury had caught up extremely quick. He was just a few feet away.

"No where to go now, girl. Unless you can fly…" He snarled. Faith looked across the gap and below, where a rooftop was, but it was quite a far reach and a long fall if she missed. She backed up towards Mercury and ran at full speed at the ledge. If she missed the timing or the other building, she was dead. She was crazy!

She jumped just as Mercury fired the gun. She didn't look back. She reached out towards the ledge. She didn't need to. She landed on her feet on the roof and ran. She looked back once and stopped. Mercury…seemed stunned. He jumped the gap and walked towards her, throwing down the gun. He seemed to be amazed by something.

"W--what?" Faith stammered. The man grinned.

"What's your name, kid?" He asked. Faith had been told to stay away from strangers, but she was independent now! She didn't have to follow rules except her own.

"Faith Connors. What are you going to do?" She asked. He wasn't going to shoot her, and he seemed gentle right now…

"Well, nice to meet you, Faith. I suppose you know from my license that I'm Mercury. You can just call me Merc, though." He shook her hand. "Those are some skills you have, jumping a gap like it was nothing! And with a gun fired at you! I have a proposition for you."

Faith was interested. "Yeah?"

"First, do you have a home? With a parent?" He asked. Faith shook her head. "Well, how's about I take you under my wing, give you a nice place to crash?" He asked.

"Hmm……Well, I've got nothing to lose! Yeah, I guess so!" She grinned for the first time in ages.

"Also, you've heard of Runners, right?"

"Yeah, and?"

"Well, how about I train you to be one? You have the right build, the skills, and you seem daring. See, I used to be a runner, but now that I'm well over my time, I need some help. I already have some runners stationed around here, but you seem to be the fastest, most agile, most coordinated person I've seen! So, whaddya say?"

Faith thought. A home, new friends, and adventure everywhere! She practically answered immediately.

"Yes!"

To Be Cont'd…


End file.
